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Helping others see past disability

I think we have all had moments when we wish we could change something about ourselves but if you were really were given the chance you would not change it for the world.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have others get to know you for you and get your personality and see past your disability that has been my dream not only for myself but for others.

But how?

This has been a lingering thought on my mind. In an attempt to recognize that their isn’t a cookie cutter answer im not about to try give a cookie cutter answer instead I would love start a discussion with you

Laura a discussion about what you ask: one of we call can do in our daily lives that will make others think differently and in turn hopefully start the ball rolling to help others see past disability and simply see one’s ability

share in the comments below what is one small thing we can all can do to improve society’s ability to see past disability i can’t help but imagine a life where disability is secondary

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About lifeofthedifferentlyabled

Laura Forde founded her blog through my eyes: my life with cerebral palsy in December 2009 out of a great need she had, realizing that there was a vast gap in firsthand accounts of what life was like living with Cerebral Palsy: she knew then that the only way to see this reflected online was to create the change herself and thus this blog was born Laura was born four months premature, weighing a mere one pound three ounces and given ten percent odds for survival. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three.
After graduating from college, she continued writing and doing what she loves to do most; speaking to groups about her life experiences and sharing what she has learned from her journey.
Her blog lifeofthedifferentlyabled was created after discovering that the online community lacked the voice of people in her situation.
In its first year, the site saw over 20,000 hits from all over the world. Her readers are from all walks of life; some with disabilities, parents of children, professionals, and others who seek to gain a better understanding of the world of the differently abled.
You can follow her on Twitter or Facebook

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Comments

Helping others see past disability — 4 Comments

Very good questions to ponder. I think something that we have to do as disabled is allow able bodied to feel comfortable about disability by helping them understand disability. We can do this by answering their questions. It gets the elephant out of the room if we either bring up the disability ourselves or let the able bodied know we won’t get offended if they ask honest questions. Once the disability has been discussed you can move on to other topics. I also think in my own life when I am able to be kind and help others with and without disabilities they start to see me as me. Oddly enough I have other disabled people think of me just as my disability more often than able bodied. It’s like some people with disabilities are literally obsessed with their disabilities. It’s really irritating.

Have you ever seen something called “5 stages of disability attitudes”? It’s kind of similar to this post.

I think we, as “disabled” people need to go out more. Whenever I’m out in public I can see people staring at me. It’s not only me but past friends and a recent friend recently confessed to me that I get stares. I think the more of us they see the more common we become. Even when I’m out, I rarely see another person who has a disability that is noticeable. I can’t speak to those who have invisible disabilities. Let’s face it: people use their eyes more than their brains. When I go to the gym, I see eyes averting once I notice people staring. It’s not a “I think you’re cute” look, I really hope it’s not because mostly the stares come from men. Women might look at me but totally ignore that I exist however, when they are behind me they look back with mocking glare or even imitating walk. It’s weird that the roles have reversed. When I was younger, boys would mock and imitate my gait while girls would stare; although the totally ignoring me hasn’t changed nor the “I hope he’s not looking at me” look and avoidance walk away. I digress, my point is if we use the world as a gym, walk all over the place, make ourselves known, no embarrassment, the more of us are out there, the more common we become and the less awkward ‘non-disabled’ person will be around us. dream on….

I think staring is rude, regardless if the person is disabled or not. Often when I see people stare and it has to be really staring because I don’t pay attention for the most part, I stare them down. It makes them uncomfortable and they look away. A few times I’ve seen people trip, walk into doors or windows while staring at me.

I think its pure ignorance.

Ironically, when my adult child is with me she notices people staring a lot more. She gives them her own little stare or she’ll ask may I help you? Its funny how they run off.